Material handling truck



Oct; 9. 1945.

A. WAGNER ETAL MATERIAL HANDLING TRUCK 't 'iled Dec. 6, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 "9m x W. A8 M? n ws Oct. 9,1945. H. A. WANER E1"AL 2,386,519

MATERIAL HANDLING TRUCK Filed Dec. e, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Harold A. Wagner Gusfave It Wagner INVENTORS @ZW/M flf forn e y Patented a. 9', 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MATERIAL HANDLING TRUCK Harold A.Wagner and Gustave H. Wagner, Portland, Oreg.

- Application December 6, 1943, Serial No. 513,160 2 Claims. (01. 214-113) structure of the vehicle; and Fig. is a diagram- The present invention relates to material handling apparatus and, more particularly, to vehicle devices for handling bulk material.

Bulk material, such as coal, sand, dirt, snow or the like, is frequently required to be picked up from the ground and moved to another location or loaded onto a truck for hauling. Crane type power shovels or clam buckets are frequently used a new and improved utility truck vehiclewhich is particularly suitable for scooping bulk material from the ground andloading it into an elevated receptaclesuch as a dump truck body;

Another object is to provide a new and improved scoop arrangementfor a bulk materialhandling vehicle.

A still further object is to provide a novel bull; material handling truck which is highly maneuverable, relatively light in weight, simple in design, and low in manufacturing costs. I

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, the material handling truck' comprises a relatively light weight vehicle having a rigid upright structure fastened onto the front end thereof.' A scoop is provided upon the upright, it being supported upon a carriage which is arranged for r vertical movement upon (the upright. The scoop is pivotally mounted upon the carriage and is normally retained in a substantially horizontal position, except when it is desired to unload the scoop when it is caused to tilt to a dumping position. Raising and lowering'of the carriage and scoop upon the upright structure is controlled through means operativelycoupling the carriage,- to the prime mover engine of the vehicle. 1

- In the drawings Fig. l is a side elevation of the apparatus of the invention constructed in accordance with one form thereof; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the apparatus as shown in Fig.1; Fig/3 is a fragmentary view illustr ting certan details of the scoop carriage struct re; Fig. 4;"is a fragmentary detail view. illustrating the 'scoo in a partially-elevated position upon the upright for handling such bulk material but the latter matic sketch illustrating the driving andcontrol arrangement for the scoop assembly.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a vehicle is illustrated including a body frame In having apair of relatively widely spaced front wheels H which are adapted to be driven by the engine (not shown) mounted within the body Ill. The rear end of the vehicle is supported by a single wheel l2 mounted upon a yoke member l3 having a post which is suitably journaled within the end of the body I 0 for ovement about a vertical axis. A tiller arm I5 secured to the upper end'of the post I4 is provided with a convenient handle l6 extending forwardly of the operator's seat I! and by means of which steering movement of the wheel l2 may be effected.

A bulk material handling means, such as a scoop, indicated generally at 2|, is arranged upon the forward end of the vehicle, the scoop being supported within a carriage and which; in turn,

,is mounted for vertical movement upon an up- 9 right structure 22 fixedly secured to theforward end of the vehicle body. The upright structure 3 may be of any suitable construction defining a tending braces 21.

pair of parallel guides for the rollers of the carriage. The upright structure as illustrated comprises a pair of spaced apart parallel angle members 24 so arranged that one of their flanges face forwardly in a common plane and extend away from each other. The angle members 24 may be of any desired height and are rigidly secured adjacent their lower ends to the vehicle frame Ill. The angle members 24 are braced with respect to each other by cross members'25 and 26 extending therebetween above thevehicle and the upper end of the upright structure is braced to the upper portion of the vehicle body ill by angularly ex- The scoop II is of a width somewhat greater than the overall width of the front wheels II, for reasons as will be explained more fully hereinafter, and comprises a base portion 30, opposite,

side walls 3|, a curved rear wall 32 and an upper wall 33 extending over the rearmost portion only of the scoop. l

The scoop is pivotally mounted upon the carriage structure for movement between a generally horizontal position and a tilted or dumping position. Rigidly secured as by welding to the lower rear corners of the scoop are a pair of rearwardly extendingfbracket arms 38 which are loosel journaled upon the ends of a transversely extending shaft 39 of the supporting carriage. ,Referring particularly to the fragmentary view of-Fig. 8, which illustrates one side of the carriage structure, the rod 38 is rigidly welded to the forwardly extending portions 48 of the side members 4|, the upper ends of the side members being rigidly secured relative to each other by the cross bar 42. A pair of rollers indicated at 43 and 44 are rotatably mounted upon the side members, the upper rollers 43 being arranged for riding upon the rear surfaces of the forward flanges of the upright angles 24 while the lower rollers 44 are adapted for riding upon the front surfaces of these flanges. The shaft 46 upon which the lower rollers 44 are supported extends between the side frame members 4| as indicated.

The scoop is normally restrained against pivotal movement about the shaft 39 by a pair of latch hooks 48 pivotally secured as by pins 49 to lugs welded to the upper wall portion 33 of the scoop. The ends of the hooks 48 are adapted to engage behind cooperating shoulders formed by flattened portions 50 on the latch control shaft The shaft 5| is rotatably supported by brackets 52 secured to the cross bar 42 and is biased in the counter-clockwise direction of rotation as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3 by means of a suitably arranged spring 53. A stop 41 secured to the shaft 5| limits the rotation of the shaft under the torque of the spring. Release of the latches 48 may be effected by rotating the shaft 5|, such as by means of a rope 54 secured to the end of a lever arm 55 fixed on the end of the shaft 5|. By turning the shaft 5| in the clockwise direction the latches will be released from the shoulders 50 whereupon the scoop will be freed for tilting to the dumping position illustrated by dotted line in a Fig. 4. Forward tilting movement of the scoop is restricted by means of a pair of chains 56 secured at one end as at 51 to the upper portion of the scoop, the other end'of the chains extending through an eye of an eye bolt 58 arranged through a cooperating opening in the end of the cross bar 42. Arranged around the eye bolt behind the cross bar is a spring 59 for resiliently arresting the scoop in the predetermined tilted position. Th scoop is automatically reset to the latched-in horizontal position upon lowering of the carriage and engagement of the scoop with the. ground whereupon the latches 48 will automatically hook behind the squared shoulders 50 on the control shaft 5| of th carriage.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the lowermost ends 60 of the angle members 24 of the upright structure are deformed slightly rearwardly so that as the scoop carriage is dropped to the lowermost position, the foremost .edge of the scoop 2| is directed at a slight downward angle from a true horizontal for the purpose of bringing the front edge of the scoop into engagement with the ground for facilitating the picking up of bulk material from the ground ahead of the vehicle. As previously pointed out, the scoop is slightly wider than the overall width of the front wheels so that the scoop clears the path ahead of the wheels to provide a firm traction therefor upon the surface of the ground therebeneath. The scoop is filled by simply driving the vehicle with the scoop in the lowered position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 into a pile of bulk material lying upon the ground. After the scoop is filled it is raised by means of a pair of cables 8| connected at one end to the opposite sides of the scoop carriage, the cables extending upwardly over pulleys 82 rotatably mounted on the upper ends of the upright members 24 from which the cables extend downwardly it to a position only a few feet above the ground so I that the center of gravity of the load will be maintained reasonably low. When it is desired to dump the load from the scoop the latches 48 may be released to permit forward and downward pivotal movement of the scoop to the dotted line position as shown in Fig. 4. If it is desired to dump the material into an elevated hopper or into a dump truck body, the scoop may be raised to a point high on the upright structure and the vehicle driven forwardly so that the foremost edge of the scoop overhangs the side wall of the receptacle before the latches 48 are released.

The mechanism for driving the cable winch drums 83 from the prime mover engine of the vehicle may be of any suitable form, such as that illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 5. Referring to this figure, 18 indicates the prime mover engine mounted within the vehicle body, the drive shaft of which is operatively coupled by a chain H to a drive shaft 12. Arranged on the drive shaft 12 is a clutch comprising an axially adjustable driving element 73 and a driven element 14, the driven element being afiixed to the driven shaft 15 which is coupled by a chain" to a shaft 11 extending from a differential gear housing 18. The winch drums 63 may be mounted on the outer ends of shafts 19 extending transversely of the vehicle from the opposite sides of the differential 18. By driving the winch drums through a differential gearing equalized loading of the cables 6| may be maintained. Arranged about the driven clutch element 14 is a brake drum 8| surrounded by a brake band 82 which is normally biased to the set position by a suitable spring 83. The brake and clutch may be suitably controlled by a single manual control lever 84 pivotally mounted as at 85 onto thgvehicle body. The lower end of the lever 84 may be connected by rod 88 to a clutch operating lever 81. Connected to the lever 84 above the pivot 85 is a rod 88 having a sleeve 89 affixed thereto and which is slidably arranged over the end of a second rod 9|, the opposite end of rod 9| being connected by a bell crank 92 to the brake band 82. Movement of the manual operating lever 84 from the neutral position toward the left, as viewed in Fig. 5, will effect engagement of the clutch elements |3'|4. The brake band 82 extends around the drum 8| in such a direction that the brake band will offer very slight resistance to the rotation of the drum 8| during forward driving thereof. Reverse movement of the brake drum 8|, upon disengagement of the clutch, will be effectively prevented by the brake band under the tension of the spring 83. Movement of the lever 84 toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 5, will cause the end of the sleeve 89 to engage with the stop 95 on the rod 9| to effect movement of the bell crank 92 and loosening of the brake band 82 against the tension of spring 83. Loosening of the brake band 82 when the scoop is in the elevated position will permit the descent of the scoop to the lowered position upon the upright.

For limiting the upward travel of the scoop can ge upon the upright. means are provided for automatically effecting disengagement of the clutch upon the carriage reaching a predetermined upper position. As shown clearly in Fig. 2, a stop 98 is slidably arranged within a. slot through the rearwardly extending flange of one Of the angle upright members and which stop is connected by a rod 91 to one end of a bell crank as as shown in Fig. 5, the other end of the bell crank being connected by a rod 99 to the clutch control lever 81 Upon movement of the carriage to an upper limit position the upper roller 43 of the carriage engaging with-the stop 96 will carry it upwardly thereby rotating the bell crank 98 and causing movementof the rod 99 and clutch control lever 81 to the .disengaged position.

Movement of the carriage is arrested in the lowermost position by engagement of the rollers 44. with fixed stops i! suitably secured to the angle members 24.

Referring particularly to the view of Fig. 1, it will be observed that the lower rollers of the carriage and the pivotal support 39 of the scoop are arranged substantially in line with the bottom of the scoop so that as the scoop is driven into a pile of bulk material, such as coal orearth, the driving force of the vehicle is transmitted substantially in a straight line from. the lower ends of the upright members to the front edge of the scoop. It will be' noted that the. shaft 6 for the lower rollers 44 extends the full distance between the side frame members 4i so as to provide a strong support for the lower rollers which compact size, and of. relatively light weight so as to enhance its maneuverability within confined areas ofoperation. The wheels II and I! are preferably of relatively large diameter so that the vehicle may be operated over relatively rough ground. 7

in what is considered to be a preferred embodiment thereof, it is desired that it be understood that the specific details shown are merely illu trative in that the invention may be carried out in other ways.

-' We claim:

l. A bulk material handling apparatus comprising a vehicle including a frame, an upright secured to the forward end of said frame, a scoop, a carriage pivotally supporting said scoop mounted upon said upright for vertical movement with respectthereto, the pivotal axis for said scoop on said carriage being rearward of the center of gravity of said scoop whereby said scoop is normally unbalanced toward a dumping position, a rotatably mounted shaft extending transversely of said carriage and having a squared shoulder formed thereon, stop means limiting rotation of ing said shaft to the limit position in said one 7 direction, pivoted hook means secured to the upare subjected to a heavy thrust in the scooping up of loads. In order further to provide a firm backing for the scoop as it is being driven into a pile of bulk material, the forward' edge of the side frame members 4| is so shaped as cooperatively to engage with the curved rearwall 32 of the scoop when the latter is in the horizontal position.

It is preferred that the guide frame members 24 of the upright structure for the scoop carriage be spaced widely apart in order that when driving the scoop into a pile of bulk material in an off centered relation with respect to such pile, the

-*' 'erreet of the unbalanced stress upon'the carriage and upright structure will be minimized.

It will be obvious that the scoop may be of any desired capacity and size,-dependingflupon the nature of the m rial intended to be handled thereby. For han ng a relatively densematee rial, such sand or coal, a smaller sizedscoop per portion of said scoop for cooperatively engaging said shoulder forretaining said scoop in a substantially horizontal position, and means for rotating said shaft against said spring biasin means for causing disengagement of said hook means from said shoulder. v

2. A material handling truck, an upright secured to the forward end of said truck, a material receiver, a carriage pivotally supporting said receiver mounted upon said upright for vertical may beprovided than if a lessdense material, 1

such as snow or the like, is to be handled. It will also be obvious that the scoop may be removably attached to the carriage structure so that coops of the most appropriate size may be attached in place as the particular job may require,

'f'he vehicle l0 maybe of arelativelysmall,

movement with respect thereto, the pivotal axis for said receiver on said carriage being rearward of the center of gravity of said receiver'whereby said receiver is normally unbalanced forwardly toward a dumping' position, a shaftjrotatably mounted upon said carriage and extending transi versely thereof adjacent the upper portion of said receiver, said shaft having a squared shoulder.

formed thereon, a hook means pivotally secured to the upper portion of said receiver for cooperatively engaging said shoulder for normally retaining said receiver in a substantially horizontal position,-said shaft being rotatable in merge:- tion from a predetermined set position for ca ing disengagement of said hook means from said shoulder to permit movement of said receiver to the dumpingposition, means for rotating said shaft in said one direction, and spring'means'for returning said shaft to said set position. 1

' HAROlD A. WAGNER.

aos'ravn H. WAGNER; 

